A NICOSIA court is asking former chairman of AremiSoft Corporation, Lycourgos Kyprianou, and his wife, Ermioni, to justify the whopping £20,600 monthly figure needed to sustain their family if it is to release their frozen assets. Ermioni has 13 days to provide evidence of her £4,000 a month shopping requirement for clothes for the family.
The two applied for access to their frozen assets last Friday, along with Pavlos Meletiou, and the companies Global Consolidator and King Mazzax Lines.
The district court issued an injunction on July 21 freezing Lycourgos Kyprianou’s worldwide assets as well as those of companies and people affiliated to him.
The injunction was secured following a lawsuit filed by the Trustees of the AremisSoft Liquidating Trust on behalf of over 6,000 former investors who lost over $500 million in what US authorities described as one of the biggest stock market frauds of all time.
The former chairman and CEO of bankrupt Nasdaq-listed AremisSoft Corporation currently lives in Cyprus. He is the executive manager of Global Consolidator. Lycourgos is considered a fugitive by the US authorities and is wanted there on charges of securities fraud and money laundering.
Last Friday, Ermioni asked the court to release their frozen assets so she and her family could maintain the lifestyle they were used to, which, as she listed to the court, includes spending £4,000 a month on clothing.
Ermioni, who owns King Mazzax Lines, also asked the court to annul the interim order freezing the accounts of her company, which pays her salary of £12,000 a month.
In her application, she lists the monthly costs needed to maintain her family in a manner it is used to. These include: £3,500 a month for electricity, phone and heating bills, £1,500 in travel costs, £1,100 house insurance, £1,200 for domestic help, £800 on children’s tuition fees, £1,000 personal care and £4,000 on clothing for herself, husband and three children.
Lycourgos asked the court to allow him to withdraw his monthly salary (£12,600) from Global Consolidator, and any money necessary for him and his family to live and his children to continue their education. His lawyers also request that Global be allowed to withdraw money to pay running costs and wages.
Financial director of Global Consolidator, Meletiou, seeks to have his monthly net salary of £5,200 released by the court so he can meet the financial needs of his family.
In response, the district court gave the defendants until August 24 to submit all documents directly or indirectly related to their application, including a full list of all active assets.
All five defendants, including the two companies, must provide information on their active assets within 13 days. The court has also asked Ermioni to provide evidence of every item of monthly expense listed in her sworn affidavit. The remaining defendants, apart from Global, also have to submit documents showing their monthly expenses.
If they fail to do this by August 24, the court may order their arrest or confiscation of their property.
Meanwhile, the lawyer representing the AremisSoft Liquidating Trust in Cyprus, Alecos Markides, will be calling Ermioni and Meletiou to the stand for cross-examination of their affidavits.
Lycourgos Kyprianou was detained by local authorities in October 2002 on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud and exporting currency under false pretences.
He was remanded in custody for a week and was released without ever being charged.
